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Only two cases occurred in babies born at home, one of which was
removed to St. Margaret's Hospital (Metropolitan Asylums Board),
Leighton Road, Kentish Town.
Of the 5 cases occurring in obstetric hospitals 3 were removed to
St. Margaret's Hospital.
All the 7 cases recovered without any injury whatever.
In Hampstead, by agreement between the Council and the two
local Nursing Associations, the services of the nurses are available for
any such cases as need their help.
Measles.
Measles is compulsorily notifiable in Hampstead in pursuance of the
Borough of Hampstead (Measles) Regulations, 1920, which came into
force on 1st August of that year. These Regulations provide that a
medical practitioner shall not be required to notify a case of Measles:—
(a) If he has reasonable grounds for supposing that it has already
been notified, or
(b) If a case of the disease which he is attending has to his
knowledge occurred in the same household and been notified
within the period of two months immediately preceding the
date on which he first becomes aware of the disease in the case
he is attending.
The question of hospital accommodation for Measles, which had
been under consideration by the Metropolitan Asylums Board for some
time, came before a Conference in April 1926, between Medical Officers
representing the Ministry of Health, the London County Council, the
Metropolitan Branch of the Society of Medical Officers of Health and
the Metropolitan Asylums Board. The principal object of the Conference
was to discuss the question of whether priority should be given to
selected cases of Measles over certain cases of Scarlet Fever, instead of, as
hitherto, according priority of claim to the latter disease, and, if so,
what procedure should be followed in making the selection.
It was agreed that, in view of the much higher mortality of
Measles, and its far greater destructive effect on child life, the
practice of giving priority to Scarlet Fever cases should cease, that in
lieu thereof, there should be a definite allocation of beds to the two
diseases, that the allocation should be revised periodically in relation to
the requirements of the moment, and that when Measles was epidemic
the larger proportion of beds should be allocated to it.